This is a story about using the wrong tool for the job. The Japanese abacus is a powerful tool for addition and subtraction. As Feynman said, a skilled user ca

This is a story about using the wrong tool for the job. The Japanese abacus is a powerful tool for addition and subtraction. As Feynman said, a skilled user can add faster than you write the numbers down. Even today, its excellent user interface still puts it ahead of a typical pocket calculator. But for cube roots ... it sucks. I wonder how Feynman would have fared against a slide-rule salesman?